Joseph H. Brady and Francis M. "Frank" La Duc

Joseph H. Brady and Francis M. “Frank” La Duc are both members of the Greatest Generation. They are both World War II veterans who fought in Europe and have strong ties to Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division.

Mr. Brady and Mr. La Duc both live in Carthage, and in 2015, traveled as part of a Syracuse Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. to visit the war memorials at the nation’s capital. Mr. Brady, 89, fought in the historic Battle of Bulge, serving in the U.S. Army’s 8th Infantry Division from May 1944 until June 1946. As a teenager, he had a summer job washing vehicles in the Army motor pool at Camp Drum, the military training facility that would become Fort Drum in 1974. He was drafted into the Army on his 18th birthday, the youngest soldier in his unit, H Company of the 121st Regiment. His unit safely crossed the Rhine River at the Remagen Bridge. Three days later, the bridge collapsed after weeks of attacks by the Germans.

Mr. La Duc, 91, served in the original 10th Mountain Division with E Company as part of the 86th Regiment that fought in the Apennine Mountains in northern Italy and valiantly took control of Mount Belvedere from the Germans during intense combat. As a 19-year-old in 1943, he had volunteered to serve in this elite mountain force that was formed that year as an alpine division, and where troops learned to ski, rock climb and perform all other aspects of mountain warfare. Today, the 10th is the most deployed military unit in the U.S. After the war in Europe ended, Mr. La Duc’s outfit was selected to be part of the force to invade Japan, but before they could be sent to the Pacific, the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb.

These two brave men exemplify the qualities of integrity, character and service. We are honored to call them American heroes.